The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today selected Dominique Strauss-Kahn to serve as IMF Managing Director and Chairman of the Executive Board for a five-year term starting on November 1, 2007. Mr. Strauss-Kahn will succeed Mr. Rodrigo de Rato.

The 24-member Executive Board selected Mr. Strauss-Kahn based on the candidate profile and the selection procedure established by the IMF's Executive Board on July 12, 2007 (see Press Release No. 07/159). Following interviews with the two candidates for the position, Executive Directors considered the strengths of the candidates and proceeded to select Mr. Strauss-Kahn formally by consensus.

The Managing Director is the chief of the IMF's operating staff and Chairman of the Executive Board. He is assisted by three Deputy Managing Directors. The IMF has 185 member countries and staff from more than 140 countries.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn, 58, a national of France, has been a member of the National Assembly and is Professor of Economics at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris. He served as Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industry from June 1997 to November 1999. He also served as Minister of Industry and International Trade from 1991-1993. Between 1993 and 1997, Mr. Strauss-Kahn joined the private sector as a corporate lawyer. Since 2000, Mr. Strauss-Kahn has taught economics at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris and he has been a visiting professor at Stanford University. Mr. Strauss-Kahn holds a PhD in economics from the University of Paris.